"This is the first installment of “If It Happened There,” a regular
feature in which American events are described using the tropes and tone
normally employed by the American media to describe events in other countries. "
[....] Six years into his rule, Obama’s
position can appear confusing, even contradictory. Though the executive retains
control of the country’s powerful intelligence service, capable of the
extrajudicial execution of the regime’s opponents half a world away, the
president’s efforts to govern domestically have been stymied in the legislature
by an extremist rump faction of the main opposition party.
While the country’s most recent elections were generally
considered to be free and fair (despite threats against international
observers), the current crisis has raised questions in the international
community about the regime’s ability to govern this complex nation of 300
million people, not to mention its vast stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
Americans themselves are starting to ask difficult questions as
well. As this correspondent’s cab driver put it, while driving down the poorly
maintained roads that lead from the airport, “Do these guys have any idea what
they’re doing to the country?”" (thanks Redouane)
